Hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Cooper Basin, Australia

Abstract

The Pennsylvanian-Middle Triassic Cooper Basin is Australia's premier conventional onshore hydrocarbon-producing province. The basin also hosts a range of unconventional gas play types, including basin-centered gas and tight gas accumulations, deep dry coal gas associated with the Patchawarra and Toolachee Formations, and the Murteree and Roseneath shale gas plays.This study used petroleum systems analysis to investigate the maturity and generation potential of 10 Permian source rocks in the Cooper Basin. A deterministic petroleum systems model was used to quantify the volume of expelled and retained hydrocarbons, estimated at 1272 billion BOE (512 billion bbl and 760 billion BOE) and 977 billion BOE (362 billion bbl and 615 billion BOE), respectively. Monte Carlo simulations were used to quantify the uncertainty in volumes generated and to demonstrate the sensitivity of these results to variations in source-rock characteristics.The large total generation potential of the Cooper Basin and the broad distribution of the Permian source kitchen highlight the basin's significance as a world-class hydrocarbon province. The large disparity between the calculated volume of hydrocarbons generated and the volume so far found in reservoirs indicates the potential for large volumes to remain within the basin, despite significant losses from leakage and water washing. The hydrocarbons expelled have provided abundant charge to both conventional accumulations and to the tight and basin-centered gas plays, and the broad spatial distribution of hydrocarbons remaining within the source rocks, especially those within the Toolachee and Patchawarra Formations, suggests the potential for widespread shale and deep dry coal plays.

Down under and under Cover—The Tectonic and Thermal History of the Cooper and Central Eromanga Basins (Central Eastern Australia)

“…Although widely studied, the region recently again became the subject of numerous investigations aiming to reassess its petroleum potential, including source rock characterization and identification of new unconventional hydrocarbon targets [4][5][6][7][8]. Among other objectives, the latest investigations also aim to improve Australia's domestic energy market and water supply through studying the development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), hydrogeological conditions, and the evaluation of carbon capture and underground storage (CCS) potential [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…Since 2009, exploration activities have focused on development of unconventional resources [5,32] and total petroleum prospectivity [8], but also include ground water, EGS, and CCS [9,[15][16][17]. In 2015, approximately 160 oil fields (84 in Queensland, 82 in South Australia) and nearly 250 gas fields (158 of which are located in Queensland, 98 in South Australia) were productive [7].…”

The Warnie Volcanic Province: A Jurassic Volcanic Province in Central Australia

“…Structurally, the Cooper Basin can be divided into southern and northern sections (Gravestock & Jensen-Schmidt, 1998;Hall, 2016). To the north, depocentres are dominantly Triassic, with Permian depocentres in the south (Hall et al, 2018). The northern and southern sections of the Cooper Basin are separated by the Jackson-Naccowlah-Pepita Trend (JNP trend) ( Fig.…”

Hydrocarbon Kitchen Evolution in the Early Cretaceous Bayingebi 2 Formation in the Chagan Depression, Yingen-Ejinaqi Basin, North Central China

“… 3 − 8 The evolution history and hydrocarbon generation intensity of hydrocarbon kitchens is often studied by basin simulation 9 and petroleum system analysis. 10 , 11 El-Ghamri et al pointed out by 1D basin models that reservoir oil in the October field originates predominantly from source rocks and the hydrocarbon expulsion was from kitchen depocenters adjacent to the October field. 9 In the northern Bonaparte Basin, the potential hydrocarbon kitchen could be currently expelling hydrocarbons into traps on the Laminaria High according to a 3D petroleum systems model.…”

“…The concept of hydrocarbon kitchen was first proposed by Thomas in 1985, and it was used to study the characteristics and distribution of source rock regions, including the location and distribution of hydrocarbon kitchen, the intensity of generated and expelled hydrocarbon from hydrocarbon kitchen, and the amount of generated and expelled hydrocarbon during different geological periods . There have been a lot of researches on hydrocarbon kitchen. − The evolution history and hydrocarbon generation intensity of hydrocarbon kitchens is often studied by basin simulation and petroleum system analysis. , El-Ghamri et al pointed out by 1D basin models that reservoir oil in the October field originates predominantly from source rocks and the hydrocarbon expulsion was from kitchen depocenters adjacent to the October field . In the northern Bonaparte Basin, the potential hydrocarbon kitchen could be currently expelling hydrocarbons into traps on the Laminaria High according to a 3D petroleum systems model .…”